History Main / RecursiveAcronym

* GOD -- GOD Over Djinn (from Douglas R. Hofstadter's ''[[GodelEscherBach Gödel, Escher, Bach]]'').
** Chapter 18 of Hofstadter's ''Metamagical Themas'' includes a menu of mutually-recursive food acronyms, such as "TOMATOES on MACARONI (and TOMATOES only), exquisitely SPICED".
* In ''MoreInformationThanYouRequire'', John Hodgman advises memorizing names through mnemonics. For example, the name "John" becomes "John Or Hodgman Name".

* Popular text-based email program PINE -- Pine Is Nearly ELM. (ELM being another popular email program, though not recursive). However, PINE's successor, Alpine, does not seem to stand for anything.

* ''{{NewspaperComic/Dilbert}}'' takes this to its logical extreme with [[http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/1994-05-18/ the TTP project]], where TTP stands for "The TTP Project". It might also be an example of Redundant RAS Syndrome.

* PNG -- PNG's Not GIF (as PNG was conceived as a replacement for static GIF images though it also stands for Portable Network Graphics.)

* In ''LittleHouseonthePrairie'', when Caroline has a job at a restaurant, a customer tells Caroline she won't get any tips if she treats customers the way she does. Charles reminds the customers that the word "tips" means "to ensure promptness," possibly not realizing that the word isn't "tep," but "tips."

* ''{{NewspaperComic/Dilbert}}'' takes this to its logical extreme with [[http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/1994-05-18/ the TTP project]], where TTP stands for "The TTP Project".

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* In series four of ''Series/DoctorWho'', [[Recap/DoctorWhoNSS4E4TheSontaranStratagem The Sontaran Stratagem]] takes the "use letters from within the words" cheat to its logical conclusion with ATMOS, which stands for "[=ATMOSpheric=] Omissions System". Yes, we know you don't spell 'emissions' like that, but it's written on all the stickers on the car windows... and the final S has to come from System, or Rattigan's whining makes no sense.
** Considering what the device is supposed to do (disregarding the Sontarans' plans), "Omissions" does make sense, as it does omit the emissions on the vehicle the device is installed on.

* Scott Adams once had ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}} assigned to the TTP project at his workplace -- TTP standing for "'''t'''he '''T'''TP '''p'''roject".

* The Archie SonicTheHedgehog comics had ADAM (ADAM Determines Anonymous' Movements)

* In series four of ''Series/DoctorWho'', it takes the "use letters from within the words" cheat to its logical conclusion with ATMOS, which stands for "[=ATMOSpheric=] Omissions System". Yes, we know you don't spell 'emissions' like that, but it's written on all the stickers on the car windows... and the final S has to come from System, or Rattigan's whining makes no sense.

* Scott Adams once had ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}} assigned to the TTP project at his workplace -- TTP standing for "'''t'''he '''T'''TP '''p'''roject".

* In ''TwinPeaks,'' BigBad "BOB"'s name was a recursive acronym standing for "Beware of BOB".
* In one episode of ''Series/{{MASH}}'', Radar defines "AWOL" as "A.W.O.L. without leave".

* The occasional ''[[Series/TheColbertReport Colbert Report]]'' segment ''Stephen'' '''''R.A.P.S.''''', which stands for '''RAPS''' '''A'''nd '''P'''ositive '''S'''peaking.

* In one episode of ''Acorn the Nature Nut'' (a nature show for kids), he received a letter where a kid called their beetle "Black B.B." and the "B.B." stood for "Black B.B."

* ''Nukee'''s M.I.N.O.S -- M.I.N.O.S Issues No Office Supplies

* Wine --[[http://www.winehq.org/ Wine]] Is Not an Emulator (it isn't; it's a compatibility layer for the Windows UsefulNotes/{{API}} for non-Windows operating systems[[note]]Only on 32-bit and 64-bit x86 architectures, however. When using another architecture, an actual emulator would be needed.[[/note]])

* YAML -- YAML Ain't a Markup Language. It isn't. SERIOUSLY.

* SPARKS -- have the biggest collection of acronyms, including "Smart Programmers Are Required (to) Know SPARKS"
* Early versions of the common emails one receives claiming that [[http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/nothing/billgate.asp Bill Gates will give one money for forwarding the email]] to all one's friends as a test of his newly developed email tracking application often contain a blatant clue that the email is a hoax. The text often refers to the alleged email tracking system as the "Beta Email Tracking Application", which (of course) recursively acronyms to "BETA".

* HIPI -- HIPI Is a Piet Interpreter
* XBMC -- used to stand for "Xbox Media Center", but now that the program has been ported to other platforms, it now stands for "XBMC Media Center".

* XNA -- "XNA's Not Acronymed" (an engine made by Microsoft that make use of the .NET framework to make interactive media such as games. it's commonly used by indie developers to make games for the Xbox, although it can also be used on MicrosoftWindows and the Windows Phone 7).
** On the top of that, XNA's logo is also an acronym. The orange part of logo is actually written in morse code, "-..-" meaning "X" while "-." means "N" and ".-" means "A".
* Mini -- Mini Is Not IOS (Mini is part of Bootmii, a method to execute a low-level bypass of the Wii System Menu and load homebrew.)
* AROS -- "AROS Research Operating System", formerly "Amiga Research Operating System", a free and Open-Source variation on AmigaOS, renamed in order to avoid legal action from the owners of the Amiga trademark.
* Allegro ([[http://alleg.sf.net]]) -- "Allegro Low Level Game [=ROutines=]", formerly "Atari Low Level Game [=ROutines=]" (Allegro is a low-level game programming library that mostly just provides easy access to the hardware)

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JACK_Audio_Connection_Kit JACK -- Jack Audio Connection Kit]] (a sound system for pro-audio/MIDI work under Linux)

* [[http://www.synthesiagame.com Synthesia]], a game to learn how to play piano, was formerly known as Piano Hero. After they got [[ScrewedByTheLawyers C&D]] order from Activision, the developer opened a poll for the new name of the game and one of the name requests was as follows: "'''S'''INPHONY '''I'''s '''N'''ot '''P'''iano '''H'''ero '''O'''r '''N'''ew '''Y'''ork".
* MINCE -- MINCE Is Not Complete Emacs (Emacs is a text editor)
* Inverting all the "X is not an Y." examples above is BIABI, which is a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brainfuck Brainfuck]] Interpreter.
* The name of the object-oriented BASIC dialect Gambas stands for '''G'''ambas '''A'''lmost '''M'''eans '''BAS'''IC.

* Cave - '''C'''ave '''a'''utomatic '''v'''irtual '''e'''nvironment
* RPM -- RPM Package Manager. Formerly Redhat Package Manager before it started to be used by OS other then redhat.
* A joke from the days of 64k RAM is that Emacs stands for '''E'''macs '''m'''akes '''a c'''omputer '''slow'''.
* EINE - "EINE Is Not Emacs" and its successor:
* ZWEI - "ZWEI Was EINE Initially"
* BABOON: BABOON Allows BABOON Objects Over Networks

* Heil Environmental Industries Limited, founded by Julius P. Heil, makes garbage trucks.

* According to ''AtariForce'', "Atari" stands for the "Atari Technology and Research Institute".

* [[DinosaurComics T-Rex]] [[http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=1923 sees right through]] Creator/WilliamShakespeare's clever [[AuthorAvatar self-insert]]:

[[folder:Computing]].

* In one episode of ''Series/{{Mash}}'', Radar defines "AWOL" as "A.W.O.L. without leave".

* ''KamenRiderBlade'' has the B.O.A.R.D. Organization, which stands for '''B'''oard '''O'''f '''A'''rchaeological '''R'''esearch '''D'''epartment.

* '''RED Corp.''', one of the casting agencies that provide the stuntmen for ''SuperSentai'' and ''KamenRider'', stands for "Red Entertainment Deliver".

** UNIT itself is now an example, having gone from "United Nations Task Force" to "[=UNified=] Intelligence Task Force".

* On ''LookAroundYou'', MATHS stands for '''M'''athematical '''A'''nti-'''T'''elharsic '''H'''arfatum '''S'''eptomin.

* WebComic/NotAVillain's [=LiFe]= -- [=LiFe=] is For everyone

* DSW Shoe Warehouse: the DSW stands for "DSW Shoe Warehouse". That makes it "DSW Shoe Warehouse Shoe Warehouse". And then you can keep going. On and on and on...

* Wine --[[http://www.winehq.org/ Wine]] Is Not an Emulator (it isn't; it's a compatibility layer for the Windows [[ApplicationProgrammingInterface API]] for non-Windows operating systems[[note]]Only on 32-bit and 64-bit x86 architectures, however. When using another architecture, an actual emulator would be needed.[[/note]])

* The occasional ''[[Series/TheColbertReport Colbert Report]]'' segment ''Stephen'' '''''R.A.P.S''''', which stands for '''RAPS''' '''A'''nd '''P'''ositive '''S'''peaking.

* In one episode of ''[[{{MASH}} M* A* S* H]]'', Radar defines "AWOL" as "A.W.O.L. without leave".

[[/folder]]

* Averting all the "X is not an Y." examples above: BIABI is a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brainfuck Brainfuck]] Interpreter.